Talks about Durant’s future to come ‘soon’ Riders head coach says

With playoffs almost entirely out of reach and just eight games left in the season, many are wondering what the fate of Darian Durant will be.

The veteran Roughrider quarterback has spent his entire career in the green and white, but his contract is up at the end of the season, after it was renegotiated in the off-season.

Durant has been pretty clear about what he hopes his future holds.

“I don’t want to go anywhere, I’ve spent my first 11 years here, I want to spend the next 11 years here,” he said on Tuesday.

Durant said it’s been a blessing to be able to play in Saskatchewan for as long as he has, which has made him able to pass many previous Rider greats in career statistics. More recently he surpassed Kent Austin to hold the second most passing yards as a Roughrider quarterback.

“To pass a guy like Kent, who I respect probably more than any other quarterback I’ve known, and to get it done here in this place, it’s just special. I hope that I can continue to climb the ranks a little bit and make this place home for a lot longer.”

Head coach Chris Jones said while the two have not talked about extensions yet, those discussions are coming before the end of the season.

“That’s going to be something that he and I will talk about soon … in the near future,” Jones said.

Despite the losing season, Durant has shown plenty of leadership over the last few weeks. Fellow CFL veteran Fred Bennett – who just joined the team a few weeks ago – noted that Durant’s tackle of Blue Bomber Johnny Adams after he intercepted him showed he’s willing to fight for his team.

“I had to look and see who it was and then I was like, ‘whoa!’ said Bennett. “I know he wants this as bad as anybody. To see our quarterback throw an interception and go fly down like that and hit the guy looking like a linebacker, it’s unbelievable.”

“I hope the guys see that I’m willing to put my body on the line for this team in order to get us whatever it takes to win games,” Durant said about making the hit. “No matter what it is, I’m trying to fight.”

 Durant has 2,193 passing yards and 154 yards rushing in eight games this season.